Foldable closure



July 31, 1923.

. 1 F. G. WALKER FOLDABLE CLOSURE' Filed .Jan. 10, 1921 2 SheetsSheet 1 m M /o 0 U A July 31, 1923. 1,463,347-

v F. G. WALKER v FOLDABIQB CLOSURE INI/EIV TOR may. 5,? (Ml m 40 V I su' ported in accordance with my'lnvent1on;

reference to means for connecting and sup-- reduced and the installation of the doors be Patented July 31, 1923.

FREDERICK e. WALKER, or cHIoAs 'IL INoIs;

FOLDABLE CLOSURE.

To all whom it mayioon'cem:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK G. Tenn- ER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements .in a Foldable' Closure, of which the followingis a specifi-.

f closure for an opening 2. ."The closure shown consists of two equal parts 3each consistlng as shown ofthree leaves, 4, 5 and 6. further describing myinvention de scriptlon of, one part 3 oflth'e doorwill 'apcation. p 7

My inventionrelates to improvements ]Il folding doors .or partitions and has special porting the leaves or partsof the door.

The object of my invention is to simplify andcheapen the construction of folding door supports, to the end that the cost shall be more cheaply, easily and quickly accomlished. V

A further object of my 1nvent1on is to provide supporting devices of simple char- 1 acter to which the doors can be easlly and quickly connected with little labor and without the necessity of theprovision of special doors.

' A further object of my invention is to provide means for supporting and sliding the doors or the leaves thereof, which shall eliminate the necessity of, posts or other parts arranged in the: plane of the door when closed, in other words, which shall provide a foldable closure for the door opening consisting of door leaves arranged edge.

to edge from side to sideof thedoor openy 1nvent1on will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, andin which:- v W v;

Figure 1 is an'elevational view of the inner side of a folding door'constructedandigure 2: is a horizontal sectional view of the door on the line12+2 of Figure 1,1-one half ofthedoorbeing shown, in closed positionin full lines andin fully open condition" in" dotted lines,v the other half of .the

door being shown in partly-opens-condition inffull lines and in-closed position in dotted lines;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary i elevational J view of the door supporting device looked at.

from the inner side;

fiFig'ure 4 is a. fragmentary vertical sec; tion'al view on the line of Figure 3, showing the Ehinged, edge of the farther -V door; 7

Figure 5-:is a fragmentary horizontal secs tlon on the line 55 of Figure 3'showing thedoors partly open in fulllines. and fully closed in dottedlines; and

V Figure 6 1s atop plan viewof one door supporting bracket. v i v I In said drawings, ,1 represents a foldable ply equallyto the other'part,.as the two parts are substantial duplicates of each other. i V i i i The several leaves'of thecompleteclosure he in a single plane and fill thedoor opening 2 from the jamb 7 at one-side to the op .posite 7 at the'otherside. When the 'openmg 1s closed,the several leaves are ar- M63347; P rea ranged in edge to edge relation. The leaf fl wardly upon the'leaf 4' as the, door is opened,

For supporting the opposite edge 10 of the leaf 5 and guiding it inthe door openy ungand closing movements I providev a vertical support 11. This support'll, as shown in the'drawings, consists'of a vertical metal member 12'preferably for reasons, of cost and lightness, in the form of apipe; At its lower; end this pipe. carries a supporting grooved wheel or roller. .13 which isr'otatjably mounted on a fixedaxle pinikllj carried,

in a dividedlbracket-lo socketed upon the lower end 'ofthe pipe and adaptedfto beheld against rotation thereoniby th ,At its upper end. 'thepipe' support mem berisprovided with a laterallyextending rigid guide'member 17 ,adapted to ybei-receivedv within a U-shaped guide 1 8 secured to the upper] door frame" beam l9 ',;and

parallel "with the 1door;op'ei ing;, '2.. In the 1 form-shownrthe-jzguide .memberl'? consists of a inetal rod like member-.befntat right n s o te m th e al-ext in th leer-17 and alsoj'toform ashortierend 20 adapted to be rec'eived upper he ripe fir wall.

The grooved support wheel 13 is adapted to rest upon and roll along a convex guide member or track 21 secured to the floor parallel to the plane of the door opening 2. In the construct-ion shown track 21 is secured to one flange of a metal angle able as to length so that in the installation member 11 from twisting or turning around and permits it to move freely back and thereof it can be arranged to fit snugly and yet be freely movable between the rail 21 and the guide 18. Thisis accomplished in the form shown by splitting the upper end 25" of the pipel2 sotthat the pipe can be clamped upon the end 20 of the lateral guidel'Y, which is of a size to fit snugly within the pipe 12. The split end 25 of the pipe 12 is'adapted to be clamped upon the end 20'by afbolt 26 which extends through the pipe and through the end 20 transversely to thesplit in the pipe. In order topermit the vertical adjustment spoken of I" provide vertical slots 27 in the wall of the pipe 12 to permit the bolt 26 to be adjusted longitudinally thereof Vwith the guidemember 17.

l The guide arm 17 prevents the support forth on the rail 21, as the door is opened and closed and with practically no friction.

For connecting the leaves 5 and 6- to the support 11 l preferably provide hinges 28; one'leafof which is secured to the edge 10 of the leaf 5 and the other of which is adapted to be secured to the adjacent edge of the door leaf 6 for mounting said leaf 6 to open and close.

It will be obvious that for a wider opening further supports 11 and additional door leaves a could be provided.

The leaves of each of the hinges 28 are fixedlymounted on a hinge pin or pintle 29 which extends below the hinge butts and isrece ived inlthe free endof support bracket 30. Preferably the pintle 29 a is headedat'each end to prevent its easy removal and to prevent the separation of the hinge from the bracket,

The bracket 30 extends inwardly between theladjacentedges of the leaves 5 and '6 The innerend of the bracket 30 is secured to the' support 11 by some suitable means which permits the relative vertical adjustment" of the bracket and support so that the leaves of the door can" readily hung to swing freely and properly and the support arranged to move freely back and forth. I preferably form the rear end of the bracket so that it can be tightly clamped upon the support, and for this purpose l preferably make the bracket of two memb rs 31 and 32. These two members together provide a vertical opening 33 to receive the support and the two' members are adapted to be bolted together and tightly clamped upon the support 11 by a clamp ing bolt 34 arranged between the support and the pintle.

The member 32 e tends out toward the pintle' and has a bearing on the opposite member so that when the bolt 34 is tightened the grooved ends of the. two members are clamped tightly upon the'support.

As a further precaution I may provide a set screw mounted in the member 3 1, and provided with a pointed end adapted to be forced into the support 11'.

While l have shown the guide groove for the guide member 17' as being formed of a U-shaped member, it is obvious that the groove might be provided iii-other ways.

The leaves of the door as has been. explained, close at the bottom of the door opening against the ledge 2 b and at the top ofthe opening I provide a ledge 36 against which the leaves close, To complete the tight closure of the opening I provide. an overlapping batton 37 on the outeruface of the leaf l and a similar batton 37' on the inner face of the leaf 5 adapted toproject over the adjacent ed e of'the leaves 5 and'6 respectively and close the joint between the lower locking bolts 40 and l provide asuit able lock or latch 41 for fastening the other centerleaf '6 to the bolted leaf;

The support l1 supports -,theedge.l() ofthe leaf-- 5 and also the leaf 6 and guides these parts in the opening-and closing movements, the three parts or leaves ofeach door being capable of'being folded backinaacco-rdion pleated fashion, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2,? ln'use the two center leavesfiumay be opened to give access to the centerzpartof tl e garage or one or th'e 0th r or both sets of leaves may be folded back as desired to give access to either oribo-th sidesyof the garage. i

ice

- justing oft-he guide member up anddown As many modifications of my invention will readily suggest themselves to one skilled in the art I do not limit or confine my invention to the specific constructions herein shown and described.

I claim: V

1. In a device of the kind described, a support for a folding door comprising a pipe member, a support wheel secured at its lower end formed to engage a'guide rail,

a vertically adjustable guide member at the upper end of the support one portion adapted to extend longitudinally of the door opening and to engage; an upper guide to prevent rotation of the support, and relatively thin support brackets adapted to be clamped to the pipe member at suitable heights and adapted to extend between the adjacent edges of door leaves to engage door hinges.

2. In a device of the kind described, a support for a folding door comprising a pipe member, a support wheel carried by the lower end of the'member for engagement with a suitable track, a metal guide 'member having arms at a right angle to each other, one thereof adapted to be received and clamped in the upper end of the pine memher, a grooved guide at the top of the opening parallel therewith in which the other arm is received, means permitting .the adto adjust the length of the support and door support brackets removably secured to the folded together to uncover the opening, door sup-ports movable longitudinally of the door opening and extending from the bottom to the top of the opening, guides at the bottom and top of the door opening for engaging the supports, support brackets carried by the supports extending out between adjacent hinged edges of the leaves, and means for pivotally mounting the leaves on the outerends of the support brackets. V

4. In a device of the kind described, a support for a folding door comprising a pipe member, a' support wheel secured at its lower end formed to engage a guide rail, a vertically adjustable guide member at the upper end of the support having an arm adapted to extend longitudinally of the door opening and to engage anupper guide to prevent rotation of the support, relatively thin support brackets adapted to be clamped to the pipe member at suitable heights and adapted to extend between adjacent edges of door leaves, and means for pivotally mount ing the leaves on the outer ends of the support brackets.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 5th day of January, 1921.

FREDERICK e. WALKER. 

